MJ Viljoen is targeting a second HotelPlanner Tour win of the season as he takes a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge.
The South African carded a bogey-free six under par 66 to reach 11 under par at Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil and move two clear of England’s Alfie Plant and Norway’s Kristian Krogh Johannessen.
The South African, who secured his maiden HotelPlanner Tour title at the SDC Open at the start of the year, made an eagle and four birdies on Saturday and he was delighted to keep his card clean.
“It was a solid, blemish free round,” he said. “I haven’t had one of those in a long time, so that was quite nice. I chipped quite well, had a chip in, a couple of looks at a chip in also, so I enjoyed it.
“We’d been working on the chipping a little bit, on the action, and got the flow going this week, so it feels like I have a lot of control when I chip, even on 16 I almost chipped in again.
“I was kind of expecting it to get firmer, it’s firm but I was expecting it to be more firm yesterday and today, but I think tomorrow it’s going to get tough.”
The standout moment for the 31-year-old came at the par five 15th, where Viljoen judged his chip to perfection to make eagle, and be the first to reach double digits under par, a mark no other player in the field has yet reached.
Viljoen is currently 12th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings and is determined to strengthen his position with a strong finish tomorrow, with the top 15 at the end of the season earning promotion to the DP World Tour.
“It would actually be my fifth win, but on the HotelPlanner it would be my second win tomorrow,” he added. “I’m very excited, winning in Zebula was crucial, I felt like I was under a lot of pressure then with my game and where I was, I think tomorrow is going to be a lot more enjoyable.
“I was conscious of taking the lead, I saw the leaderboards out there. I’ve been in this position a lot back home, I like to know where I am in the field, so yes I was definitely conscious of taking the lead, especially after the eagle, I knew I was going to jump up there.
“It looks like they’re firming the course up, it’s quite fast now, so I think the course is going to be a beast tomorrow.”
Frenchman Julien Sale and Italy’s Jacopo Vecchi Fossa finished the third round in a share of fourth at eight under par, with Denmark’s Hamish Brown, Peru’s Julian Perico, Sweden’s Adam Wallin and France’s Maxime Legros all a shot further back.
The final round of the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge begins on Sunday at 6.35am local time, with MJ Viljoen teeing off at 12.36pm alongside Alfie Plant.
